What You Do To Me (Unexpected Love) (20 page)

             
“Yes, Alex called, but
seriously,
it’s nothing.”

             
“Does he know it’s nothing or are you trying to convince yourself it
is nothing?” I could
hear a hint
of
annoyance in
hi
s voice.

             
“Why does it matter? We said last night
that
we were going to be friends.”

             
“Friends?” Derek said
with a giggle, “I hate to tell you this, but from what I saw this
weekend,
he doesn’t want to be your friend. Remember
what I said, be careful.” I knew where Derek was coming from, but nothing could possibly
happen. After all,
Alex was on tour and I was
in BFE Michigan. “It’s your
life,
Abbs, but keep the girls away from
it.
They
don’t need to be exposed to this, especially if it’s something that is going to pass.”

             
I
couldn’t
believe he fucking said that
to me. I walk
ed
out of the
room and again into the bathroom
. “Last time I checked
,
those girls are mine and I don’t need you telling me how to raise them.
I’ve managed to keep them alive the last seven years
.” With
that,
I pull
ed
the phone from my
ear,
hearing Derek talk, but n
ot making out anything that he wa
s saying
and not caring to listen
. Yelling to the
girls,
I told
them to say bye to
Derek,
because he needed to get off the phone and we needed to finish our dinner.

             
After
dinner,
I ga
ve the girls the desserts that
Derek and I picked out for them
.
Once
the girls
finish
ed their
desserts,
I ga
ve them
a bath and pu
t
them to bed
.
I
begrudgingly
walk
ed
out to the back deck
and sa
t with Lexi.

             
“So, you and Derek have a nice conversation?” I look
ed at her and ga
ve her a pissed off look. I grab
bed
the bottle of wine and pour
ed
myself a drink
, knowing my stomach would hate me because
of
all
I had
drunk
the last few days
.
I
need
ed
the help to make it through the rest of the night with Lexi.
“
Abby,
look, I know where Derek is coming from. He was the only one who could put you back together after David died. I couldn’t get you to listen to me, but whatever bond you two have is special. Whatever his reasoning is for warning
you,
I’m sure it’s not malicious. Derek loves you and those girls.”

             
“I know, but I
don’t want to hear it.” I shook my
head,
knowing I didn
’t want to hear the warnings, but
needed
too. “Whatever happened with Alex
happened.
I don’t regret it, but I know it isn’t going anywhere.
He’s
on tour for the next eight weeks and I’m sure he will forget he even met me once he meets some big
boobed
groupie.”

             
“
Well,
I can tell you what I see and
I’m sure Derek sees
the same
,” Lexi sat
up in her chair leaning her elbows on the table. “
Abby,
you aren’t
the
type of girl
who
just
loves
someone and
leaves
them like nothing happened. I
mean,
you’re
playing
it off
as if
it’s not a big deal
, but I hear
d
your voice while you were on the phone. You already have feelings and
you’re
trying to hide them from Alex,
yourself
,
and us
. I love you and so does
Derek.
We
just don’t want to see you hurt again.”

             
“I know, I’ll call Derek tomorrow, I just need tonight to cool off. I know everything you are both saying comes from love.”

             
Lexi and I
sa
t on the deck and I fill
ed
her in on
yesterday’s
lunch, the game, an
d
the
club. I implied
abo
ut the hotel room after, but didn
’t give any details,
because some things
are
too
private. I told
her about Sam and Alex’s
relationship,
and
about
how much Sam
would fit in with us. Lexi filled
me in on wha
t I missed with the girls and told me she had a date this week. We sa
t on the back porch for hours talking about everything and nothing. Looking at
her,
I realize
d how lucky
and truly blessed
I was
to have her in my lif
e
,
even with everything that had
happened in the past eight months.

             
After I wash
ed
my
face,
I walk
ed
downstairs to throw my clothes from the weekend in the washer. Digging through my
bag an
d
dumping in my
clothes,
I ca
me across Alex’s
shirt.
I instantly
buried
my face into the
shirt,
taking in his scen
t. I set the shirt down,
pull
ing
mine off
and I replaced
it with his.
Finishing
the laundry
by
throwing
the
clothes in the
washer, I
head
ed
back upstairs for bed. I turn
ed
on my bedside lamp and pull
ed
out
my iPad to read
Saving
Grace.
I had
been neglecting
it since I met Alex
.
While forgetting about my day a
nd becoming caught up in the life of Shane and Grace
,
I
received
a Face
T
ime invite from Alex. I hit accept, but wish
ed
he
had
called
as
he said he was going
to
.

             
“Why didn’t you
call like you
said
?” I ask
ed
with a hint of
annoyance,
because I
k
ne
w how awful I look
ed
right now.

             
“I did,
but
you didn’t
answer,
so I thought I woul
d take a chance and Face Time your
iPad,
”
he
said
with a smile. Looking at
him,
I
felt
an
ache
f
or him.

             
“How did you get my e-mail address?”

             
“The same way I got your phone number. I
might
have even sent myself a few pictures of you from y
our phone
,
and you now like
the
Awakening
page
on Facebook too.”

             
As soon as those words were out of his
mouth,
I sat up in my bed and was
more than pissed. “Are you fucking kidding me? You not only invaded my privacy by going into my phone and calling yourself to get my number, but you snooped through my phone and went into my pictures
,
then sent yourself some. Oh, then you logged into my Facebook account? You are seriously crazy.”

             
“Technically
,
I didn’t log into your Facebook, your app already has you
logged i
n,” flashing me another killer smile. “By the way, my shirt looks good on you.”

             
Feeling my face go red and still being
pissed,
I end
ed Face Time. I didn
’t
know if I was
more pissed about him invading my privacy
,
or embarrassed
that
he saw I put his shirt on to sleep in tonight. I pick
ed up my phone and went to my messages. I foun
d the text messages he sent himself from m
y phone and sure
enough,
there were
four pictures. I click
ed
on the text to see what p
ictures he sent. The first one wa
s of the girls and
me
from the
winter,
playing in the
snow.
The
se
cond wa
s one that Lily took of me, a
profile of my face
looking at
something.
The
third was a picture of Derek, Lexi and
me
,
and the last was one of me sleeping on the couch in his hotel room. I quickly
exited
out of the messages and went
into my photos.
Sure as shit, the
last picture on my phone wa
s of me sleeping on the couch in his hotel room.
Alex must have taken the picture after I fell asleep while he was invading my privacy.

             
Just
then,
a message flashed
on top of
the screen of my iPhone and it wa
s from Alex.
I
tapped
it so I c
ould
read the whole message.

             
Is it safe to call you? I’m sorry, but I knew I needed a way to find you after that night.

             
I had no clue how to
respond.
I was
u
pset with what he did, but I kne
w he didn’t do it to
be
malicious
or to invade my privacy, which of
course, he
completely did. I kne
w he did
it so he could find me and k
eep in contact, but knowing
that,
scared
me.
What
could he possibly want from this
relationship?
Could we keep it just a friendship like we said, knowing that
wasn’t
re
ally what we were talking about?
I didn’t know how to do this without attaching emotions an
d my conversation with Derek kept
playing in the back of my mind.
Finally,
I
sent
a response.

             
Fine, but I’m unliking your Facebook page and
if you
bring up the
shirt,
I’m hanging up.

             
It felt
lik
e I just hit send
, when
my phone
rang
and I hear
d
Alex’s voice
singing.
I
really
need
ed
to change that ringtone.